Whether it’s a one-week shootout or a two-week marathon, most fantasy leagues have their championship game this week. If you’re lucky enough to be competing in your league’s Big Game, every roster move this week deserves to be scrutinized and your strategy must be meticulous. Who wants to fight a whole season, work the waiver wire, and endure the trash talk only to fall one game short of glory? Nobody wants to be that guy/girl. I’ve been there. It’s infuriating.
If you’re going for glory this weekend your first step to success will be avoiding risks and inconsistencies. If you have a few boom or bust players taking up roster spots, this may not be the week to gamble with them. If you have players from any of these teams – Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, Indianapolis Colts – bench them.
Even the big names from these teams (Peyton Hillis, Mike Williams, LaGarrette Blount, Dwayne Bowe, Reggie Wayne) are prone to bouts of ineptitude and/or ineffectiveness. You can’t take a chance on one of these guys stinking it up with first prize on the line. If you made it this far in your league, you should have better options.
Another stay-away is Giants QB Eli Manning. This was his line against the lowly Washington Redskins on Sunday – 23-40 for 257 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTS. The Giants have been maddeningly inconsistent this year, dominant one week and downright putrid the very next. The future of the Tom Coughlin Era in New York could be resting on their next game and the competition will be stiff.
The Giants and Eli will be facing a tough Jets defense that is sure to be angry after having the Eagles drop 45 points on them on Sunday. In their last 3 games, the Jets D has 3 interceptions, 10 sacks, 7 forced fumbles and 5 fumble recoveries. This is not the game you want your QB playing in during Championship Week. Avoid Eli if you can.
Bounce Back Candidates
Antonio Gates – TE – San Diego Chargers
Week 15 vs Baltimore Ravens
2 catches for 31 yards.
If anyone in the NFL was due for a dud last week, it was Gates. Antonio had been on an absolute tear heading into Sunday’s clash against Baltimore five touchdowns in his last six games. From the Chargers standpoint, he picked the perfect game to bomb. While Gates was disappointing fantasy owners the rest of the Chargers were rolling along like a finely-tuned machine. The Chargers playoff hopes are contingent on the team winning the rest of their games, so I expect the offense to keep performing at a high level. Next up Gates and the Chargers take on a Detroit defensive unit that hasn’t allowed less than 27 points to an opponent since October. The Lions are young and sloppy on both sides of the ball, and they consistently extend their opponents’ drives with dumb, ill-timed penalties. A veteran QB like Rivers in a must-win game should eat up a team like this. Gates is good to go.
Next Page: Three More Bounce Back Candidates
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